Pune: A year ago, captain Rohit Rajpal made a conservative choice to field Sriram Balaji, the senior most player in the Indian team, in the singles against Sweden in a World Group I tie in Stockholm.The team was depleted in the absence of leading singles player Sumit Nagal but with Balaji being a doubles specialist, Rajpal had to cop a lot of criticism for failing to use the opportunity to blood a young Aryan Shah.Twelve months later, the captain has shown a leap of faith by picking a player orignially named in the reserve ahead of two higher-ranked players.On Thursday, Rajpal nominated Dhakshineswar Suresh, who plays for Wake Forest University in the US college tennis and had made rapid strides in recent months, along with Nagal in singles in the tie against Switzerland in Biel.Suresh, a 25-year-old big serving 6′-5″ tall lad from the tempe town of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, was drawn to play Jerome Kym in the opening singles followed by Nagal against Marc-Andrea Huesler at the Swiss Tennis Arena on Friday.Ironically, Suresh’s Cup debut will come at the cost of 19-year-old Shah, the second highest-ranked India at the moment at 401 in the ATP computer.The teenager had been unwell last week and that may have been a factor in Rajpal’s choice.Kym is ranked 155th in the singles charts while Huesler is 222nd.Also returning to the Davis Cup fold along with Nagal is Bhambri, but the World No. 35 has been sidelined by a heel injury he suffered during his semifinal run with New Zealand’s Michael Venus at the US Open.As such, he has been replaced by Rithvik Chaudary Bollipalli, who will pair up with Balaji in the doubles rubber against Jakub Paul and Dominic Stricker on Saturday.Nagal will face Kym in the first reverse singles followed by Suresh against Husler, subject to nominations remaining unchanged.The 28-year-old Nagal has slipped in rankings to 290 and has played primarily on clay, his most favoured surface, since losing in the first round of qualifying at Wimbledon — whereas the tie will be played on indoor hard. Whether the bounce and pace suits the former world No. 68 remains to be seen.Given the circumstances, the spotlight will be firmly on 621st ranked Suresh, who has done well in singles and doubles, both in college and the professional circuit.After moving from Georgia Gwinnett to Wake Forest, he played a key role in the Demon Deacons winning the NCAA men’s tennis championships in 2024-25, his third year in college.Suresh was the team’s No. 2 singles player and reached the semifinals of the NCAA championships and reached No. 5 in rankings and remained in the top-10 through the season.In doubles, his partnership with Holden Koon proved to be spectacular. They were the No. 2 team nationally and were named All-Americans in doubles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association at the end of the season.On the ATP Tour, Suresh defied the form book to reach the quarterfinals at Lexington Challenger, which he entered as a qualifier, in July and followed it up by qualifying for the main draw of the 250 Series event in Winston-Salem, Wake Forest’s home event, also as a wildcard.Rajpal, obviously, has been impressed with what Suresh brings to the drawing board.“Very happy that Suresh plays first. He is in good form and we are hoping to get a good start,” the captain told TOI after the draw.“First day is always crucial. Both teams are close, it is 50-50, dead even. All will depend on who does well on match day, who handles the pressure better.”Tie schedule:Friday (play starts 5.30 pm IST)1. Dhakshineswar Suresh vs Jerome Kum; 2. Sumit Nagal vs Marc-Andrea Huesler.Saturday (play starts 4.30 pm IST)1. Sriram Balaji/Rithvik Chaudary vs Jakub Paul/Dominic Stricker; 2. Nagl vs Kym; 3. Suresh vs Huesler.
